Though University of Wisconsin Housing has a system in place for reporting discriminatory and hateful incidents, one campus leader in the LGBT community says many incidents in the campus community still go unreported.
Homophobic graffiti found in Sellery Hall earlier this week currently being investigated by several departments on campus is an example of one such incident.
Gabriel Javier, director of the LGBT Campus Center, said the center is aware of the incident involving a Sellery resident receiving hateful messages on her door including messages such as “Gay people can die” and “I hate homos, they can burn in hell.”
Javier said the center has been in contact with individuals involved in or affected by the incident. He emphasized that not everything discriminatory or hurtful is reported.
“There’s lots of incidents we don’t hear about,” Javier said. “We’re fortunate to have someone who is brave enough to come forward and talk about their experience.”
Magpie Martinez, director of Diversity Programs in UW Housing, explained the general process complaints must go through in Housing.
House fellows are asked to document and photograph situations involving either discrimination, bias or hateful actions.
Next, the report is sent to residence life coordinators. One coordinator acts as a support system for a victim, and another sets up a conduct hearing with the alleged perpetrator, Martinez said.
Housing staff do a considerable amount of outreach when a portion of housing has been affected by an incident, Martinez said, and sometimes counseling services are called as a resource for those involved. The residence life coordinators split outreach responsibilities to avoid any conflict of interest, she said.
The alleged perpetrator may receive an allegation letter from housing, notifying them of the possible outcomes of a conduct hearing.
These potential outcomes, Martinez said, include dismissal from housing, university probation, university reprimand or the resident’s housing contract being placed in jeopardy.
These consequences can affect both the student’s status with the university as well as with housing, she said.
Anything harsher would have to be heard by the Division of Student Life, she added.
Associate Dean of Students Kevin Helmkamp said his office is working with the Division of Student Life on the investigation into the homophobic graffiti, and he said the two divisions of campus life generally work together on instances of such magnitude.
Any of the consequences can be appealed, Martinez said.
Martinez said she tracks all incidents which come through her office and compiles them into a report for the Division of Student Life. She said she looks for behavior patterns in residents and takes these patterns into account when house fellows are trained for the next year.
Javier said students affected by the incident can also use the LGBTCC as a resource for support.
“The community in Sellery Hall … knows the campus center is a support system for them, and we want to work with people to insure that LGBTQ people feel safe on campus,” Javier said.
